Slow cooked herby lamb shoulder from This Morning

A lazy Sunday dish if ever there was one. After a little prep you pop this perfectly paired duo in the oven and forget about them until suppertime.  Serve this with the cabbage gratin from my accompaniments section.

I reckon this one is my most popular dish from This Morning and rightly so its unbelievably easy and tasty!

Ingredients

1kg (approx.) boned shoulder of lamb or mutton (it it's rolled, unroll it)

1 400g14oz tin of chopped tomatoes

Fresh rosemary

Fresh thyme

Fresh bay

1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled and bashed with a knife (to crush it but not chop it)

200ml6¾fl oz lamb stock

200ml6¾fl oz white wine

Salt and pepper

Olive or vegetable oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas 2.

Start with the lamb. Season it liberally with salt and pepper and a good lick of olive or vegetable oil.

Get an ovenproof, lidded pan (or casserole dish) smoking hot and seal the lamb on all sides.

Now add the bashed head of garlic (don’t worry about the skins), the herbs, wine, stock and bubble away for a minute on a high heat, it will smell fantastic!

Add the tomatoes, season liberally, put a lid on the pan and place in the preheated oven for three hours minimum. The lamb can stay in for up to seven hours so don’t worry about timings as long as it's in for at least three.

Sticky BBQ pork ribs with bean salad from This Morning

A good BBQ sauce recipe is golddust! Ive been using this one for years and it never fails!  It works just as well with any meat and is a perfect dipping sauce for nachos, corn on the cob and lots more BBQ favourites!

Ingredients

Serves 6

For the ribs:

3 racks (approx. 550g each) of pork spareribs (You want to serve around 3 ribs per person)

1 onion, finely diced

80g soft brown sugar

80ml dry sherry

1 inch piece of grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves crushed

200ml tomato ketchup

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

100ml soy sauce

1 pinch of chilli flakes

1tsp ground cumin

For the salad:

1 can of your favorite beans, i like butterbeans, drain and rinse them.

A handful of vine tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 large courgette, diced  

1 small red onion , chopped very finely

Coriander and parsley , chopped or torn

The juice of 1 lemon

1 red chilli, seeds in if you can stand it, finely chopped

Olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

Method:

For the sauce heat a little oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion gently until its soft.  Add the garlic, cumin, chilli flakes and ginger and cook for 1 minute, still on low.

Turn the heat upto medium, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer uncovered on low heat for 15 minutes, until thick.  The marinade can be made in advance and keeps perfectly well in the fridge, covered or in Tupperware.

While this is doing put your ribs in a pan of boiling water and simmer for the same time it takes you to make the marinade (around 20 minutes)

Pat your ribs dry and brush generously with the marinade.

To cook the ribs, BBQ for 20 minutes over hot coals; or roast on an oven set to 220 (gas mark 7) for 40 minutes.

Whichever way you cook them brush them with more marinade and turn them as they cook, at least twice!

Making the salad couldn’t be simpler, gently fry the courgette until golden in a little oil and then add all the ingredients to a large bowl.

Toss everything to combine then taste the salad, does it need perking up with more lemon, salt or pepper? If so go for it.  You can make the salad in advance, its best served room temperature for the flavors to mingle so take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Serve the charred sticky ribs with the bean salad and an extra bowl of the marinade on the side for dipping.

Messy fingers ahoy – don’t forget the napkins!

This Morning Steak and ale pie with thyme suet crust

This is the pie i last made on This Morning.  I love it best as a pie filling, however this steak and ale mixture can also be eaten on its own with some buttery mash or you can add a few dumplings to the pan for the last 20 minutes of cooking for a hearty winter stew.

It's so versatile and what's more it's economical too as all the ingredients can be bought for £5.

If you want to watch a video of me making the pie live on This Morning, click here

 

Ingredients

Serves 4

for the pie filling

800g braising steak, which is a really economical cut of beef

1 punnet of mushrooms (I like chestnut)

1 large white onion, peeled and sliced

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 sprig each of fresh thyme and rosemary (or just one if that's all you have)

1 330ml can of your favourite ale (I like Newcastle Brown or Guinness)

½ pint of beef stock (or just a beef stock cube depending on how thin you like your gravy)

1 large carrot, chopped

Ingredients for the pastry

150g self-raising flour

75g beef suet

A few sprigs of thyme, chopped (dried is fine)

A couple of tablespoons of cold water (no more than 100ml)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2.

Start with your veg. Put a little oil into a large ovenproof pan or pot and, over a medium heat, sweat the onions and garlic (sweating means cooking without colouring, which softens the onions and makes them sweet).

Once the onions are cooked and have turned a little see-through, turn the heat up and add the carrot, mushrooms and herbs.

Fry the veg over a medium-high heat for a few minutes to get a little colour on the mushrooms. Don’t worry about the onions; as long as you keep stirring they won’t burn.

Tip everything into a bowl then turn the heat up high and add the diced meat to the pan.

Season the meat and colour on all sides. Keep the heat high to do this. You want to get a good colour on the meat which adds flavour to the finished pie.

Once you have coloured the meat (it shouldn’t take long; remember you are just getting a colour on all sides, not cooking it) add the vegetables to the pan, stir to combine and, keeping the heat high, add the ale.

Stir everything together. It’ll bubble away but that’s good!

Now if you like a thick gravy just crumble the beef stock cube into the pan and, if you like a thinner gravy add the beef stock. It’s entirely up to you.

Put a lid on the pan and put it in the preheated oven, for anything between 90 minutes and three hours. The meat will be tender after 90 minutes but the longer you leave it the better it will be.

Take the pan out of the oven and check the juices. If you like the pie filling a little dryer, put the pan on the hob and, on a high heat, boil the mixture to reduce it. Keep an eye on the pan and turn the heat off when it reaches the consistency you want. It’s usually fine straight from the oven but some people do prefer a thick gravy.

You can make the pie filling the day before or even pop it in a slow cooker while you’re at work. It will keep for three days in the fridge.

Now you’re ready to make the pastry. First preheat (or turn up the oven, if you are making it at the same time as the filling) to 190C or gas 5.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and add the water until you have a sticky dough.

Dust the dough with flour and wrap in cling film to rest for around 10 minutes. This relaxes the gluten in the flour and stops the pastry from shrinking.

Select your pie dish, something big enough for four servings, and lightly butter the dish including the edges.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface (using a floured rolling pin and lightly floured hands) until you have a circle that will fit over the top of the pie dish. Roll backwards and forwards, never side to side, or you will get an uneven rise on your pastry.

Add the filling to the pie dish and fit the pastry lid, pressing down round the edges to seal it.

Roll up the edges of the pastry so that you have a thick crust. Don't trim it! Well you can if you want but I like the thick crust on the pie.

Spiced braised lamb shanks

This is one of the most pleasing dishes.  Except from a brief 15 minutes of work at the beginning this dish is effortless.  The lamb is mouth-wateringly tender and whatsmore the sauce the lamb is cooked in can be frozen (if you don’t eat it all) and served with lamb (maybe roast lamb??) on another occasion.  It really is fantastic!  You can even put this in a slow cooker on a morning and it will be ready when you get in from work! 

It was a Jamie recipe ive tweaked, he originally called for all the spices to be added to the lamb before sealing but I find they burn and fall off.  I’ve added them after and I think the flavour is just as good.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes or tabouleh.  It really needs something to soak up the juices of the meat.

Ingredients
Serves 2
2 shanks of lamb
sea salt freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 small dried red chilli
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely diced
3 sticks celery, quartered, finely diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
200 ml dry white wine
6 anchovy, fillets
1 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes or chopped
1 handful fresh basil or flat leaf parsley, roughly, chopped (optional)

Method
Season the lamb with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat a thick-bottomed casserole pan, add the oil, brown the meat on all sides and then remove from the pan.
Meanwhile, smash up the coriander seeds and dried chilli and mix with the dried oregano. Roll the lamb in this mixture, pressing it in well.

Set the lamb to one side.
Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onions the chopped rosemary with a pinch of salt to the pan and sweat them until softened. This should take around 10 minutes on a medium low heat.
Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to reduce to syrup.
Pour in the white wine and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
Add the anchovies and then add the tinned tomatoes.
Return the lamb to the pan and stir. Adding a little water if the lamb shanks are exposed more than half (they need to be almost covered with liquid)
Bring to the boil, put on the lid and simmer in the oven at gas mark 3 (150) for 3 hours.
Skim off any fat and taste for seasoning.
Finally, stir in a handful of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Pigs cheeks braised in cider

Pigs cheeks are one of the most underated cuts of pork.  They are mouthwateringly tender when slow cooked and whatsmore they are one of the most, if not the most, ecenomical cut of pork you can get.  Ask your butcher for the cheeks, if your feeling adventerous, get the whole head and butcher it yourself.  The head can then be made into a fantastic gelatenous stock for filling pork pies, making a terrine or simply as the base for a soup. 

When you get the cheeks, theres quite a bit to butcher off, look at the pic below and you can see theres only a small pocket of meat you can eat. 

Here the pigs cheeks are served with creamy mashed potatoes.  The crisp bacon really adds a fantastic smoky tecture to the dish and the earthy carrots compliment everything on the plate.  Enjoy.

IngredientsServes 2/4
4 Pigs cheeks (I usually do 1 per person but the are quite small so you might want to do 2 per person)

Flour, for dusting
Olive oil for frying
1 onion peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 leek, chunkily cut
1 large carrot peeled and chunkily cut
1 stick of celrey chunkily cut
1 clove of garlic peeled
bay leaf
fresh thyme and rosemary (a sprig of each if you have any, if not dont worry)
250mls of dry cider
150mls chicken stock (or just enough to cover the cheeks)
salt and pepper
2 slices of streaky bacon per person
a bunch of baby carrots, as many of as few as you fancy
a good knob of butter

1 portion of mashed potatoes per person

Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 2 .
Season the pigs' cheeks and dust with a little flour. Heat some olive oil in a large ovenproof pan and fry the cheeks until golden-brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the onions, leek, celery, carrots herbs and garlic and fry over a low heat until lightly browned.
Add the cider.
Reduce by half its volume on a high heat.
Return the cheeks to the pan and pour over just enough chicken stock to cover.
Add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2-4 hours. (after 2 horus they will be perfectly done but the longer you leave them in the more tender they will become)
Stir every hour or so, adding a little more chicken stock if it starts looking dry.
Remove the cheeks and pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Bring to the boil and reduce on a high heat to your desired jus consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
In the meantime make up the mash as per the recipe.
For the carrots: Add the carrots to the pan with the butter and water. Steam the carrots until tender then take the lid off the pan turn the heat up high.  The carrots will begin to caramelise and become “glazed” in the buttery juices.  Make sure the pan doesn’t burn as there will be  very little liquid present.  When the carrots look glazed turn the heat off and keep warm until needed.
For the pancetta:  Heat a frying pan with a little oil.  Add the pancetta and fry until crisp on both sides.

To serve, put a spoonful of the mash on the plate. Cut a cheek at an angle and arrange on top. Pile on some carrot batons on the side of the plate and balance a crisp slice of pancetta on top of the pork.
Pour the cider jus around the dish.
Eat in abundance when its cold outside.

Beef bourguignon

This is a totally luxurious dinner, its the kind of food you want to eat while listening to Otis Reading, actually heres a little tune for the background while your cooking...  We only have this meal it once in a while but when we do we go all out and serve it with dauphinois potatoes, which you can find under my accompaniments section.  The richness of the red wine against the beef is just perfection in a dish in my opinion!!  Give it a go you won’t be disappointed.  Its surprising how good it is considering you just throw everything in a pot and band it in the oven for a couple of hours...  It’s even better the next day heated up.

Ingredients
Serves 4-6
1kilo stewing/braising steak or shin beef
1 bottle of full bodied red wine
4 fat cloves of garlic
1 punnet of button mushrooms
6-10 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
a few handfuls of baby onions, peeled (if you can’t get these just use 2 large onions sliced)
salt and pepper
flour for dusting the beef
a sprig of fresh thyme
1tbsp of tomato puree
1 beef stock cube for richness, or around 100 mls of homemade stock.

Method
Dice the beef and season it well, coat in a little flour, which will thicken the sauce.
In a hot saucepan add a little oil and seal the meat on all sides.
Take the meat out of the pan and add the onions.
Sweat the onions gently for 5 minutes or so until soft on a medium heat.
In a separate frying pan add a knob of butter and olive oil and fry off the mushrooms (whole dont chop them)
Add the garlic to the onions and stir.
Turn the heat up, add a little more oil if the pan is dry and add the chopped bacon.
Stir until the bacon is cooked.
Add the cooked mushrooms to the pan.
Add the beef back to the pan and any juices which have collected in the bowl/plate.
Season the dish with salt and pepper and add the tomato puree.
Add a sprig of thyme to the pan.
Cover the contents of the pan with red wine (it usually takes the full bottle)
Top up with the stock cube, the meat should be just covered.
Bring the dish to the boil, let it boil for a minute or so, then put the lid on and put the pot in the oven, gas mark 2 for anything between 2 and 3 hours.  The meat will be cooked after 2 but even more tender after 3.
Works wicked in a slow cooker too.